“You know you still wrinkle your forehead when you’re deep in contemplation?”
“I do not.”
“You do. Ever since I’ve known you. You get lost in thought, and right here…” He lightly brushed the spot between her brows. “Every time.”
“Hmm. I don’t like being easy to read.”
“I think it’s cute.”
Cute? Something fluttered in her at his remark.
The boat veered right, and the marsh opened up before them, a stretch of dark waters and grass swaying in the wind. As they drove past two alligators sunbathing on the banks, she looked at the other guests on the boat. Maheen was regaling the tour guide with an adventure she’d had with her family in the wetlands of Ecuador the summer before. Irum was texting. Reza was chatting with Courtney. Still.
Whatever they were talking about was certainly entertaining, judging by how Courtney was laughing.
At last the boat slowed, pulling up to a forested island.
“Whoa!” Courtney cried out as the boat anchored at a crowded dock. “That thing ishuge.”
She pointed to a massive alligator floating in the water mere feet from them, its eyes fixed on their boat, unblinking.
“Ah. That’s Suzy again,” Bob said. “See the mark on her left eye? Sets her apart from the other gators. She’s our friendliest one.”
“Friendliest or hungriest?” Haris remarked.
“Seriously.” Mansur side-eyed the reptile. “Is she stalking us?”
“Nah. She’s just nosy. She was born on our preserve with her brother, Cox, but she was not one to be contained. She’s still a sucker for snacks, though, just like her brother. I like to think she remembers her time here fondly.”
Hena stepped onto the dock and breathed in the grass-scented air. She followed the path toward the island’s center, where kids clustered around a feeding tank and dangled fishing poles with raw chicken over a pool of snapping gators. Across the way, a woman manhandled a pair of tarantulas next to a tented booth where a man hawked photo ops with a baby alligator.
Reza stood by a metal fence with a sign announcing “Florida’s Largest Gator.” Hena joined him and leaned over the chain link to take in the enormous alligator sunning near the fence’s edge.
“Are the gators as cute as you imagined them to be?” she teased Reza.
Reza’s brow creased. “Hmm. Not exactly what I had in mind.”
She pointed toward tourists posing with the baby gator. “Interested in a pic?”
“Look at the poor thing.” He grimaced. “Its mouth is tied shut.”
“So as not to bite your face off.”
“If they weren’t holding it, there’d be no worry…” His words trailed off as Courtney and Mansur jogged up to the vendor, cash in hand.
“Come on, guys!” Courtney waved to them. “Let’s do a group pic! He’s adorable.”
“Wow,” Reza muttered.
“Now, that’s a big gator,” Haris said, joining them.
“Florida’s largest,” Reza said wryly.
“The fence looks a bit worse for the wear,” Haris said, eyeing the rusted metal gate.
“I’ll definitely be giving Lulu feedback on this place,” Hena said, turning to face them both as a gaggle of children raced past.
“Me too.” Haris tugged at his damp shirt. “For starters, I would’ve liked a heads-up that I should have packed swim trunks.”